Go-Go Summary and Analysis

In the 60s, the stock market was exploding with lots of new companies and growth—the "go-go" years for money men. Buffett was a bit trapped, because he had lots of money but could not find enough bargains to buy. He eventually closed the partnership to new accounts and continued to scour for bargains. Usually, he bought bargains slowly so as not to alert the competition, but, more and more, he was outsmarted by others who snatched them up.

The additional phenomena of the 60s were mergers and "letter stock," that is, stock in companies that were essentially "fads" and whose stocks were overvalued. Performance funds were managed by high rollers who bought and sold stock to beat the Dow on a daily basis. Buffett could not get on board with these new methods of profit-making and taking. He retained...